Gaming People - I need your Input!

[Gene]

Hi Folks,

 

I am hoping some of you can help me with something I would like to do...

 

I would like to know how hard it would be to take my AM projects and put them into a format where the scenes can be viewed but also controlled by the user.

 

I guess it would be similar to viewing with something like Arctic pigs. I would like to have the option of controlling the speed of the animation, play, stop, rewind, fast forward...etc. But also, I would like to be able to Zoom and Rotate and pan into any part of the scene. Perhaps even have some preset camera views like top, side, front, back..etc.

 

I have tried doing some of this with the HAMR viewer, but it is limited in what it can do and since it is realtime, the graphics quality is not that great.

 

So, is this something that is easily done with a game engine or am I out to lunch?

 

Any input on how to get started with something like this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Eugene

[jon]

what you're asking for is realtime control, so you can't dismiss ha:mr for being realtime.

 

i'm sure it's theoretically possible to do what you ask within a game engine, but you'll face the same realtime limitations, along with the added difficulties of learning a new application and most likely redoing all of your animation.

 

give ha:mr a little time... it's still an alpha!

 

-jon

[dborruso]

Converting an already existing a:m scene to a game engine might be a little difficult. First you'd have to do away with all 5 pointers and hooks to convert it properly. Also you'd need to find a way to convert your scene elements to game block items for proper collision detection and whatnot. There are ways but it is pretty tricky.

[Gene]

Dennis,

 

How would you go about taking a scene in AM and exporting it into something like a 3D viewer where people can take a virtual tour of your set while the animation is playing?

 

I know there are similar things out there on the net, but I just don't know how to get it from AM to those other formats.

 

Regards,

 

Eugene

[gedo831]

Dennis,

 

How would you go about taking a scene in AM and exporting it into something like a 3D viewer where people can take a virtual tour of your set while the animation is playing?

 

I know there are similar things out there on the net, but I just don't know how to get it from AM to those other formats.

 

Regards,

 

Eugene

Hi,Gene.

Without some programing, what you want to do is not possible, I guess.

But only with a little studying and money, it is possible. I use AM with AMXtex(.x format exporter) and DarkBasic and they work really fantastic! (though they are not free software, but they worth for the price) With these softwares, you should be able to get closer what you want to do.

[Gene]

I am quite impressed with my initial look at the HAMR viewer.

 

I guess I am just impatient as I have some uses for it now.

 

I would like some of my clients to be able to load in some of my scenes for review, but I guess there are other ways.

 

I am always open to suggestions...Thanks!

 

Eugene

[Rodney]

I'll recommend an investment (mostly time and patience) in HA:MR.

 

The time you spend with the SDK now will really pay off later when the browser enabled utilities start to show up. In the short term you could also study the existing HA:MR viewer code.

 

...and there is the secure format (.bprj I believe) that A:M (v13) can save out to that those who are viewing can't edit. That'll be useful.

 

(I'm not gaming people though so trying to move A:M resources into an existing game engine is another thing)

Rodney

[Sacman]

Conitec's 3D Gamestudio would do what you want. However, you run into several limitations. First getting all of your models out of A:M and into the proper format. There are those in the A:M community that have done this and I am sure they will chime in. After that you will actually have to create a game 'level' and actually create your animation sequences as part of said 'level'. You are also likely going to lose a bit in Level of Detail (LOD) this would probably depend on the complexity of all the models required. In order to maintain a high enough frame rate for 'flythrough' viewing, your LOD may or may not suffer. In other words it would not look like the pretty movie that you rendered out and composited from A:M.

 

Just my two cents and something else for you to look into,

 

Wade

[Gene]

Wade,

 

Thank you for your input.

 

Rodney,

 

I think I have come to the same conclusion. Since I am not a programmer, but I think I could pick it up, are there tutorials or anything like that to get me going with the SDK?

 

Also, what's the latest with HAMR?

 

Cheers all,

 

Eugene